Ellen White: Satan is the Destroyer
Introduction
Here is a collection of Spirit of Prophecy quotations (ordered by title, disregarding “the” in titles) showing the process of God, after bearing long with sin, finally withdrawing His protection and leaving men to their chosen master who then does his work of destruction which he is then so often able to blame on God. Note that this page for many of the quotations uses the same color coding described on the wrath-of-God pattern page. The coding system is:
Because of Sin
God in “Wrath/anger”
Accommodates the sinner’s choices and
Trouble comes.
Notice the underlined letters; I remember it as the S-W-A-T pattern. You may notice that the Ellen White quotes include the “wrath/anger” portion of the pattern less frequently than is seen in scripture.
It is important to note that while Satan actively seeks to devour:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:’ (1 Pet 5:8)
he will not always cause immediate destruction:
“Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.” (The Great Controversy, p589)
In many of the quotations given below, all elements of the SWAT pattern are not found but, if the context is examined in each case, the missing elements will often be apparent.
Quotations
“But those who refuse to yoke up with Christ, who will not learn of the great Teacher, cannot receive God’s protection. If they are determined to walk in the path of disobedience, Satan will exercise his power over them, after deceiving, to destroy. We may choose God’s way, and live; we may choose our own way, and know that sin has entered into the world, and death by sin.” (Bible Echo, May 21, 1900)
Whether we have God’s protection or not is up to us.
“Jesus Christ is the restorer. Satan, the apostate, is the destroyer. Here is the conflict between the Prince of life and the prince of this world, the power of darkness” (Christ Triumphant, p247)
“Satan controlled them, and in wrath they cried out against the Saviour. They had turned from Him whose mission it was to heal and restore; now they manifested the attributes of the destroyer.” (The Desire of Ages, p239)
“Before men and angels Satan has been revealed as man’s enemy and destroyer; Christ, as man’s friend and deliverer.” (The Desire of Ages, p341)
“It was generally believed by the Jews that sin is punished in this life. Every affliction was regarded as the penalty of some wrongdoing, either of the sufferer himself or of his parents. It is true that all suffering results from the transgression of God’s law, but this truth had become perverted. Satan, the author of sin and all its results, had led men to look upon disease and death as proceeding from God,—as punishment arbitrarily inflicted on account of sin. Hence one upon whom some great affliction or calamity had fallen had the additional burden of being regarded as a great sinner.
Thus the way was prepared for the Jews to reject Jesus. He who ‘hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows’ was looked upon by the Jews as ‘stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted;’ and they hid their faces from Him. Isaiah 53:4, 3.
God had given a lesson designed to prevent this. The history of Job had shown that suffering is inflicted by Satan, and is overruled by God for purposes of mercy. But Israel did not understand the lesson. The same error for which God had reproved the friends of Job was repeated by the Jews in their rejection of Christ.” (The Desire of Ages, p471)
Notice that God has been working since the time of Job to show that suffering comes from Satan, not directly from Him.
“There can be no more conclusive evidence that we possess the spirit of Satan than the disposition to hurt and destroy [or wish God would destroy?] those who do not appreciate our work, or who act contrary to our ideas.” (The Desire of Ages, p487)
“Satan is the author of death.” (Faith and Works p73)
“The Jews had forged their own fetters; they had filled for themselves the cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction that befell them as a nation, and in all the woes that followed them in their dispersion, they were but reaping the harvest which their own hands had sown. Says the prophet, “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;” “for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” [Hosea 13:9; 14:1.] Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s vindictive power over those who yield to his control.
Note: “It is thus” (by representing sufferings as punishment from God) that Satan conceals his work. Continuing the quote …
We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God’s mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but he leaves the rejecters of his mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown, which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all who are trifling with the offers of divine grace, and resisting the pleadings of divine mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testimony to God’s hatred of sin, and to the certain punishment that will fall upon the guilty.” (The Great Controversy, p35-36)
That is an interesting use of the word “punishment.” It is obvious, from the context, that the harm is coming from Satan, yet we think of “punishment” as coming from God. It comes from Him only in the sense that He does not prevent it.
“The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon his law. Dark are the records of human misery that earth has witnessed during its long centuries of crime. The heart sickens and the mind grows faint in contemplation. Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority of Heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revelations of the future. The records of the past,—the long procession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions, the “battle of the warrior, with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood,” [Isaiah 9:5.]—what are these, in contrast with the terrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the outburst of human passion and Satanic wrath! The world will then behold, as never before, the results of Satan’s rule.” (The Great Controversy 1888, p36-37)
The paragraph above draws a parallel between “that day” in the future and the example of the destruction of Jerusalem. The end result will not be an example of God losing His temper but of Satan’s rule (with malice and enmity).
“Cruelty is satanic. God is love; and all that He created was pure, holy, and lovely, until sin was brought in by the first great rebel. Satan himself is the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then destroys him if he can; and when he has made sure of his victim, then he exults in the ruin he has wrought. If permitted, he would sweep the entire race into his net. Were it not for the interposition of divine power, not one son or daughter of Adam would escape.” (The Great Controversy, p534)
Showing how quickly Satan will sometimes destroy, is the following quote:
“Through Spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer …
“Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows. When he was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flock and herds, servants, houses, children were swept away, one trouble succeeding another as in a moment. It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just what he has declared that he would, he will withdraw his blessings from the earth, and remove his protecting care from those who are rebelling against his law, and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.” (The Great Controversy, p589)
In regards to who is to blame for death and disaster, it is important to recognize from the quote above that Satan will “lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.” He has been very successful at doing this such that most of the world believes that God is the destroyer.
Also, note the comment at the top of this page regarding this quote.
“The enemy has worked, and he is working still. He is come down in great power, and the Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. God has withdrawn His hand. We have only to look at the Johnstown [Pennsylvania] flood. He did not prevent the devil from wiping that whole city out of existence. And these very things will increase until the very close of this earth’s history” (Manuscript 5, 1889).
“If He lets go His hold on us for one moment, Satan stands ready to destroy.” (Manuscript 73, 1893, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p1078)
“The Lord gives warnings to the inhabitants of the earth, as in the Chicago fire and the fires in Melbourne, London, and the city of New York. When God’s restraining hand is removed, the destroyer begins his work. Then in our cities the greatest calamities will come.” (Manuscript 127, 1897)
Does God restrain His own work?
“I was shown that the judgments of God would not come directly out from the Lord upon them, but in this way: They place themselves beyond His protection. He warns, corrects, reproves, and points out the only path of safety; then if those who have been the objects of His special care will follow their own course independent of the Spirit of God, after repeated warnings, if they choose their own way, then He does not commission His angels to prevent Satan’s decided attacks upon them. It is Satan’s power that is at work at sea and on land, bringing calamity and distress, and sweeping off multitudes to make sure of his prey. And storm and tempest both by sea and land will be, for Satan has come down in great wrath. He is at work. He knows his time is short and, if he is not restrained, we shall see more terrible manifestations of his power than we have ever dreamed of.” (Manuscript Releases 14, nos. 1081-1135, p3)
“The same Hand that kept the fiery serpents of the wilderness from entering the camp of the Israelites until God’s chosen people provoked Him with their constant murmurs and complaints, is today guarding the honest in heart. Were this restraining Hand withdrawn, the enemy of our souls would at once begin the work of destruction that he has so long desired to accomplish. And because God’s long-continued forbearance is not now recognized, the forces of evil are already, to a limited degree, permitted to destroy. How soon human agencies will see blotted out of existence their magnificent buildings, which are their pride!” (Manuscript Releases 19, nos. 1360-1419, p 281)
“The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction reaches its culmination in the time of trouble. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation, and the Lord withdraws His protection, and leaves them to the mercy of the leader they have chosen. Satan will have power over those who have yielded themselves to his control, and he will plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.” (Maranatha, p275)
“Read the Scriptures carefully, and you will find that Christ spent the largest part of His ministry in restoring the suffering and afflicted to health. Thus He threw back upon Satan the reproach of the evil which the enemy of all good had originated. Satan is the destroyer; Christ is the Restorer.” (Medical Ministry, pg. 240)
“Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer.” (The Ministry of Healing, p113)
“A terrible contest is before us. We are nearing the battle of the great day of God Almighty. That which has been held in control is to be let loose. The angel of mercy is folding its wings, preparing to step down from the golden throne and leave the world to the control of Satan, the king it has chosen, a murderer and a destroyer from the beginning.” (Our Father Cares, p246)
“Thus it was that Lucifer, “the light bearer,” the sharer of God’s glory, the attendant of His throne, by transgression became Satan, “the adversary” of God and holy beings and the destroyer of those whom Heaven had committed to his guidance and guardianship.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p40)
“The storm came as predicted thunder and HAIL, and fire mingled with it, “very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the HAIL smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the HAIL smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.” Ruin and desolation marked the path of the destroying angel.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p269)
Referring to the preparations of the Israelites before the Passover we are told:
“All who failed to heed the Lord’s directions would lose their first-born by the hand of the destroyer.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p278)
The next page says something more about the danger from the destroyer:
“But no dwelling of Israel was visited by the death-dealing angel. The sign of blood-the sign of a Saviour’s protection-was on their doors, and the destroyer entered not.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p279)
It makes no sense to think that the sign of the Saviour was protecting the Israelites from the Saviour Himself or His angels. In light of the great abundance of other references on this page, the destroyer must have been and must still be Satan himself.
“In this age a more than common contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full. Many have well-nigh passed the boundary of mercy. Soon God . . . will say to the angels, ‘No longer combat Satan in his efforts to destroy. Let him work out his malignity upon the children of disobedience; for the cup of their iniquity is full. They have advanced from one degree of wickedness to another, adding daily to their lawlessness. I will no longer interfere to prevent the destroyer from doing his work.” (Review and Herald, September 17, 1901)
“Satan’s power upon the human family increases. If the Lord should not soon come and destroy his power, the earth would erelong be depopulated.” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p304)
“Satan is the great enemy of God and man. He transforms himself through his agents into angels of light. In the Scriptures he is called a destroyer, an accuser of the brethren, a deceiver, a liar, a tormentor, and a murderer.” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p137)
“Satan is the destroyer. God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All He can do is to permit Satan to accomplish his destroying work;. We see calamities of every kind and in every degree coming upon the earth, and why? The Lord’s restraining power is not exercised. The world has disregarded the word of God. They live as though there were no God. Like the inhabitants of the Noachic world, they refuse to have any thought of God. Wickedness prevails to an alarming extent, and the earth is ripe for the harvest.” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p388-89)
“The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land, follow each other in quick succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. Men cannot discern the sentinel angels restraining the four winds that they shall not blow until the servants of God are sealed; but when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture.” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p408)
“The wickedness of the inhabitants of the world has almost filled up the measure of their iniquity. This earth has almost reached the place where God will permit the destroyer to work his will upon it.” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p141)
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